I went to buy some confectioners yesterday at a minimart and my attention was drawn to a mother and her two kids. The younger kid was pestering his mom to get him some sweets and the mom told him to exercise a little bit of patience yet he kept pestering. The mom got him the sweets and five minutes later, she got the elder kid a popsicle. The younger kid threw his sweet on the floor and started crying so loud. What was the problem? He wanted the popsicle too. Few minutes ago he was creating a scene because he wanted sweets and now, he's making yet another scene. "Parenting must be very hard" I thought to myself.
Source||Edited on canva.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to talk about parenting, rather, I'd like to talk about contentment. What is contentment? How does it affect our daily lives?
What is contentment?
I see contentment as being satisfied and happy with what you have but there is a twist. On one hand, a person can be happy but not content and on the other hand, a content person is always happy.
It is safe to say that human wants are insatiable. We always want more and social media isn't making it any easier. We wake up each day, scroll through our phones and think to ourselves, "person A is living a perfect and very content life because person A is driving the latest version of car and wearing apparels that are invogue". Some people end up living the rest of their lives trying to keep up with the standards of person A.
People that constantly try to keep up with the "trends" never know what true contentment feels like
I have this view that contentment is more about self and less about the world. The world would always think that boys shouldn't be associated with the colour pink. The world would always think that if you don't dress a certain type of way, then you're old-school. If we want to follow the world's version of happiness, then we're indirectly saying that we need validation from the world before we can be happy or content with our lives.
Characteristics of a content person
A person that is content displays some characteristics that portray satisfaction. Some of these characteristics are :
- They live a life a gratitude:
A person that is content lives everyday of their life being grateful for both the major and the minor things that life throws at them. They always have this positive attitude towards life. They are grateful for the mistakes they make as they see such mistakes as stepping stones and consequently they are also grateful for their successes as that's a sign of progression.
- They do what they love
A content person always does what the person loves because this is where they derive satisfaction from. Satisfaction and contentment go hand-in-hand. I grew up in an environment where personal satisfaction wasn't really an option for many people and it took years and a series of harsh experiences before such people could attain contentment.
- They are disciplined:
A disciplined person knows when to stop and when to say no.
Discipline is one of the top three values a content person upholds. A person who isn't disciplined could easily be pressured into doing things. If you're not disciplined enough, then you cannot be content with your life because you'd always let other people define you. Other people would always have their opinions about you, but the ability for you to stand by values without wavering is optimum discipline.
All these and many more are the characteristics a content person displays. In the pursuit for contentment it is important to:
- Be liberal
- Stay true to yourself.
- Be humble at all times.
- Set specific goals and work painstakingly towards them.
- Practise patience.
- Do not let the world define you.
Oprah Winfrey
With love, wongi ✨